Drag bucket



Dec. 27, 1949 w. VAN BUSKIRK DRAG BUCKET 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed DeC. 7, 1945 Snow Mot mgak Dec. 27, 1949 L. w. VAN BUSKIRK 2,492,905

DRAG BUCKET Filed Dec. '7, 1 945 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 QCMVMM I a, ill I z 1 fi a a 4. I I m flu i m m 1111 i h CW MM a Dec. 27, 1949 w. VAN BUsKlRK DRAG BUCKET 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 7, 1945 FIE. 5.

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Patented Dec. 27, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DRAG BUCKET Lesher W. Van Buskirk, Easton, Pa.

Application December '7, 1945, Serial No. 633,348

1 Claim. (01. 37- 135) ing machine through the pulling chains, yet the bucket not excessive in total weight.

- Another object of this invention is to provide a drag bucket of the type referred to, whose lifting load is carried by a welded sling construction on the body and bottom rather than this weight being borne entirely by the side plates of the buckets in general use.

A further object of thisinvention is to provide a drag bucket of the type referred to, that will carry a more nearly comparable load to its shape than is now possible in other types of buckets.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a bucket whose digging end is to all intent and purpose, a one piece solid structure of metal so distributed as to taken care ofthe stresses encountered in service;

A further and more specific object of the invention is to provide adrag bucket or the like having a sling-like digging and lifting stressabsorbing reinforcement secured to the sides and bottom of the bucket atxthe forward end thereof; said sling-like reinforcement. comprising overlapping secured-together arch and lip members which have contiguous portions providing a hitch member support.

With the objects above indicated and other ob- Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the improved drag bucket taken along line 33 in Fig. 4, and showingthe' manner in which the bottom and side plates are arranged and secured;

Fig. 4 is an end 'elevational view of the drag bucket lookingat the digging end and showing details of the improved arch construction;

Fig. 5 is a tranverse sectional view taken on line 5-5 in Fig. 2, and showing further details of the trunnion plates;

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 6-6 in Fig. 2, and showing the rear portion 2 of the bucket with reinforcing bars in relative position;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale and showing further details of the arch construction; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary horizontal section at the site of'hitch 59 (see Figs. 1, 2 and 3).

In the drawings I have illustrated one typeof drag bucket embodying the present invention, but it will be obvious that the invention is as applicable to other types of buckets and the following description is, therefore, in no way restricted.

The drag bucket, indicated generally by the letter, B, consists of a body portion made up of vertically spaced parallel side walls It] and II, respectively, a transversely arranged verticalend wall [2 and a horizontally disposed bottom wall it, the side and end walls It, i l and 12 are of relatively lightweight sheet metal plates which are, or may be integrally connected respectively at their'lower portions to the bottom wall [3 by arcuate sections It, the side and end walls being so arrangedrelatively as to provide an open top type of bucket. The walls I9, ll, l3 arepreferably each made up of a plurality of plates of any suitable size pieces welded together to form a unitary integral structure.

To suitably reinforce the upper marginal portion of the bucket, a pair of relatively heavy bars lt'are disposed on the opposite sides of the plates It and M, respectively, andsimilar pairs of bars lfi'are disposed on the opposite sides of the end wall l2, the pairs of bars being welded onto their associated walls. This arrangement provides the maximum tensile strength and rigid construction,

forweight involved, to take care of pull from material being built up in filling bucket and transmitting it direct to the point of pull, the digging end of bucket.

The drag bucket B is further provided with a pair of segmental shaped wearing shoes H, of relatively heavy material, which are mounted on the diametrically opposite lower corners of th arcuate sections M; These shoes I! aresecurely welded to the adjacent contacting portions of the sidewalls ill (or H) and bottom wall l3 and have rearwardlyand upwardly curved portions l8 contiguous with the arcuate wall sections it as more clearly shown in Fig. 2. The pro-- vision of these wearing shoes i! not only affords a suitable wearing surface during the sliding movement of the .bucketbut additionally functions as afurther reinforcing means. The forward ends: of the wearing shoes I! terminate in vertically disposed walls i9 which may project forwardly any suitablezdistance.

A pair of arcuate shaped intermediate wear and sliding plates 20,?likewisel of heavy material, are disposedon' diametrically'opposite sides adjacent the lower arcuate sections M of the side Walls and have their bottom portions projecting inwardly at 2| in contiguous engagement with the bottom wall l3. The upper ends of the wear plates 20 (see Figs. 2 and 3) are in longitudinal alignment with the upper ends of the wearing shoes I1 and the rear ends of the wear plates 20 are formed with vertically disposed walls 22 adapted for abutting engagement with the adjacent walls l9 of wearing shoes 11. The front ends of plates 20 terminate in vertically disposed walls 23. The wear plates 29 are, likewise, welded to the adjacent portions of the side and bottom Walls III, II and I3, respectively, and to the vertical walls l9 of shoes [1. These wear plates 20 likewise may also be of any desired length, and their forward edges 23 are welded to the abutting rear edge or wall 28 of a lip plate 24 to be presently referred to. Thus, wear plate 29 connects wearing shoes I! and lip plate 25.

Referring to Fig. 2, the lip plate 24, incidentally mentioned heretofore, is of relatively heavy material, is disposed at the front end of the bucket B and comprises a horizontally disposed bottom wall 25 extending across but immediately beneath the bottom wall 13 of the bucket, as shown in Fig. 3. Said lip plate 24 has upwardly extending integral side walls 26 disposed on the outside of the adjacent side walls l and II, respectively, the upper edges 21 of said lip plate side walls 26 preferably terminating in horizontal planes coincident with the adjacent upper faces of the bars l5, as more clearly shown in Fi 2.

The rear portion of the lip plat 24 is formed with transversely extending edge walls 28 adapted for abutment with the adjacent edge walls 23 of the wear plates 20 which are securely welded together. The rear lip plate edge walls 28 project upwardly on opposite sides beyond the plates 20 and have angularly extending edge walls 29 connecting with the upper lip plate edges 21 heretofore described. The upper horizontal edge portions 21 of the lip plate side walls 26 extend forwardly to adjacent the front ends of the bars l and then taper downwards at 21 to approximately the plane of the lower edges of bars l5 where they terminate in vertically disposed walls 39 of considerable depth.

The lower front edge portions 3| of the side lip plate walls 26 extend downwardly and rearwardly at an angle, terminating in transversely aligned recesses 32 adapted to receive a digging lip of a construction to be later described. The lip plate 24 is, likewise, securely welded to the side walls and II and bottom wall l3 in a manner to provide a rigid unitary integral construction.

As best shown in Fig. 3, the digging lip 33 is, preferably, formed of a relatively heavy casting, in either one piece or several pieces welded into a unitary structure. The lip 33 includes a lower horizontal portion 34 extending all of the way across and rests upon the upper face of the bottom wall of lip plate 24. The rear edge of the horizontal lip portion 34 abuts the front edges of the bottom wall l3 as more clearly shown in Fig. 3. The thickened forward edge of the bottom wall 34 of digging lip 33 is provided with spaced tooth seats 36 and the intermediate sharpened cutting edge portions 35.

The tooth seats 36 are adapted to receive tooth points 31 of well known construction. The tooth points 31 per se form no part of the present invention, and consequently, will not be described in detail herein.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 3, numerals 38 indicate upwardly extending side walls of the digging lip 33 which terminate well short of the tops of the bucket side wall In, I I. The forward edges of lip side walls 38 are rearwardly curved as at 38a adjacent the tooth base carrying digging edge 35. Also, the front edges of the rearwardly curved forward lip portions 38a are outwardly bowed or curved as shown at 3817, in Fig. 1. Thus, when viewed from the front, as in Figs. 1 and 4, it will be seen that these outwardly bowed forward lip edge portions 38b are continuous with the cutting edge 35 of the digging lip.

The top portions. of the side walls 38 of the digging lip 33 slant backwardly and downwardly. It will be obvious that the extreme lower front lip edges 38b of the side walls 38 are bowed out, as described, more than any other portion, the bowing being reduced rearwardly until it coincides with the side walls and bottom to afford a wider mouth. There are five tooth points 31 suitably spaced across the cutting edge 35 of lip 33, but any number may be employed depending upon the capacity of the bucket.

As indicated in Fig, 1, the forward rearwardly curved portions 36a of the end walls 38 of the digging lip 33 are adapted for disposition in the similar transversely aligned recesses 32 formed in the side walls 26 of lip plate 24, and are rigidly secured by welding to said lip plate 24, and to the side and bottom walls, to thus provide a unitary structure. The digging or cutting edge 35 of digging lip 33 extends horizontally across the front end of the bucket and its rearwardly extending wall 34 which is in substantial longitudinal alignment with the bottom wall I3 is likewise securely welded into a unitary structure, with the tooth points 31 directed in a downward direction when in operating positions.

An arch, indicated generally by the numeral 44, is preferably made from metal pieces suitably arranged and welded into a unitary structure as more clearly shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4. One of the important features of the present invention is to so arrange the parts that the material is so distributed as to offer the greatest resistance to the maximum stress, tending to close the opening across the front of the bucket, between the hitch plates 59 (Fig. 3) so the arch is constructed with its greatest metal section toward the front of the bucket. Any suitable construction may be employed, but a simple and effective structure is shown in the drawings.

The arch 44 is, preferably, in the form of an inverted substantially U-shaped structure, connecting the side walls Ill and I l at the front ends. More specifically stated, arch 44 comprises a relatively fiat front arch plate 45 of comparatively heavy material which has vertically extending parallel spaced lower portions 46, and a horizontally extending top portion 41 spaced inwardly from the lower arch portions 46, as more clearly shown in Fig. 4.

Still referring to the front arch plate 45, Fig. 55 4 shows that arcuate shaped portions 48 connect the adjacent ends of the lower and top arch portions to provide the preferred shape of arch 44. The ends of the lower arch portions 46 of said 0 front arch plate 45, taper inwardly as shown at 7 49.

A back arch plate 50, shaped similarly to the front arch plate 45, is spaced rearwardly in parallelism with the front arch plate 45. The inner edges of these vertically disposed arch plates 45, 50 are welded to the top surface of a similarly arched but transversely dispo'sediinner spacer arch plate 52, inwardly of the front and rear edges 53, 54 thereof. The generally designated arch 44 comprising the'items 45, 50, 52 is completed by the outer transversely disposed spacer arch plate 5| which, except at its ends, is spaced from the inner arch plate 52 and substantially conforms to the outer edge contour of arch plates 45, 5!]. Arch plate 5| is welded to the inner surfaces of the front and back arch plates 45, 58, adjacent the outer margins thereof (Figs. 3 and '7). As shown, the back arch plate 56 may be made of relatively lighter gauge material than the front arch plate 45, it being apparent that the latter will be subjected to more wear because it faces the incoming load of material.

At each side of the bucket, the lower end of the outer spacer arch plate5| terminates at the lower ends of the front and back arch plates 45, 52 well below the plane of side wall bars l5, and has its lower edge substantially contiguous with the proximate surface of the inner spacer arch plate 52.

Fig. 2 illustrates the rear edge 54 of the inner spacer arch plate 52, at the sides of arch 44, as having the rearwardly and downwardly angled side portions 55 extending well beyond the rear arch plate 56 to approximately the site of the outer bucket top side bars 15. From this point, each side 55 of the inner spacer arch plate 52 contiguously overlies the side portions 26 of lip plate 24 and its rear edge 56 extends downwardly and forwardly to the upwardly inclined lower edge 3| of said lip plate 24, as indicated in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 also shows that the lower edges 51 of under arch plate side portions 55 extend upwardly and forwardly in alignment with edge 3| of the side 26 of lip plate 24; and its vertical front edges 51' are also aligned with the adjacent vertical front edges 30 of lip plate side 26 (Fig. 8).

Fig. 2 shows that the under arch-plate 52 has an upwardly and rearwardly extending edge 51a connecting edge 57' with the forward marginal edge 53 above the hitch member'59.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 8 each hitch member 59 comprises the forward, vertically apertured bearing portion 6 I which receives therear bearing end 62 of a drag line connector 63. A pivot pin 54 connects 6|, 62.

The rearwardly bifurcated portion of each hitch member 56 provides the spaced wall embracing arms 66 and has the surface of its inner arm in flat contact with the proximate inner surface of one of the sides 26 of lip plate 24. The inner surface of the other hitch plate arm 60 makes flat contact with the underlying surface of the forward vertical projection 61a of a filler plate 61.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 8, it will be seen that each filler plate 61, 6111 has its lower and rear edges substantially conformingto the lower edges 56, 5? of the'lower part of portion'55 of the inner spacer arch plate 52, while the upper edge of said filler plate 61, inwardly of its vertical hitch member-embracing extension 61a makes sustaining engagement with the lower end of the outer spacer arch plate 5|.

Fig. 8 shows that the forward edge of filler plate extension 61a is contiguous with the forward edges 51 and 30, respectively, of the inner spacer arch plate 52 and lipplate sides 26. Thus, a three-ply thickness of stock is provided for the mounting of the rearwardly extending bifurcations of the hitch plates to better withstand the load imparted by the drag lines to be connected to members 63.

The filler plate 51, 610: will be welded to the underlying sides of the inner spacer arch plate 52 and likewise at its upper edge to the abutting lower edge of the outer spacer arch plate 5|. In fact, all of the juxtaposed or contacting parts illustrated in the drawings wherever they make engagement with one another will be welded into an integral structure. Illustration of welding has, for the most part been deleted for the-sake of clarity. However Welds 58 are illustrated in Fig. 2 for integrating parts 55, 26 and 67 into a unitary assembly.

It will, therefore, be seen that the heavy lip plate 24, 25, 26 with the superimposed inner arch plate extended ends 55, 51, fastened together'by welding processes, giving the results of a solid one-piece construction, run all the way forward, forming nose ends of the side of the bucket. To these forward nose ends are secured, by several welding processes, hitch plates 59, which in turn are connected by chain attachments, by which means the drag cable pull is transmitted to the drag bucket.

Due to the fatigue of the material, set up by the pulling strains, because they all have joints or seams in the vicinity of the lines AA and/or BB (see Fig. 2) inulti-section buckets, as heretofore constructed, have proven ineffective, as seams and joints willnot impart therigidity necessary for the arch to perform its resistive efforts to the pull of the draw cable on the digging teeth, without destroying riveted or bolted joints due to working at such joints.

No arch construction heretofore proposed had its material so distributed as to offer the greatest resistance to maximum stress, tending to close the opening across the front of the bucket, between the hitch plates, so I construct the arch with its greatest metal section in its section toward the front of the bucket. One method of increasing the section of arch 44 has been herein described which involved making the 'front arch plate 45 heavier than back arch plate 50.

The outer arch spacer plate 5| provides a stiffener between the arch plates 45 and 56 and adds further resistance to the tensile stresses in the arch construction. The inner spacer plate 52 is extended toward front and toward rear under arch plates 45 and 5|! to protect the latter from abuse.

The maximum stress tending to close the front bucket opening between hitch plates 59 is at-the hitch plates and decreased uniformly toward the rear of the bucket. Hence the proposed bucket construction acts uniformly across its section against the forces encountered and no part gets excessive strain and will therefore remain in- 60 tact.

In drag bucket construction unequalized sections for the stress encountered, crack and distort, even though the entire section taken as a whole may be capable of resisting the total stress encountered.

The instant construction provides a very novel method of carrying the bucket and its load without putting the stress on the relatively thin side plates and a few rivets. To this end I provide a wide metal sling, made up of trunnion carrying plates 33' (one at each side) fastened rigidly by welding to wearing shoe plates I! and 20 extending toward each other on the bottom of a the bucket and-rigidly secured thereto by weldmg. The trunnion plates 33' extend up under and are fastened rigidly by welding to the top bars l5, hence the lifting effort through the trunnions 33a is equally distributed throughout the body of the bucket and therefore negligible so far as effects to the body plates at the sides are concerned. Trunnion plates 33' are also welded at their lower edges to the abutting edges of plates 20, I! (see Fig. 1).

Each trunnion 330, comprises a pin-carrying bracket 33b and a horizontally pivoted arm 33c. The outer ends of the arms 330 are connected to the ends of link chains 33d provided on both sides of the bucket and of sufficient length to facilitate attachment to hoist means in the customary manner.

A spacer bar 33c is positioned a suitable distance above the bucket so as not to interfere with the pivotal movement of the bucket and is connected at its opposite ends to adjacent links of the chain 33d.

Bracket 33b provides members 33f adapted to overlie the free ends of the pivot pins (not shown) to prevent accidental removal.

The axis of the inner bearing ends of trunnion arms 330 is positioned rearwardly of, and above the vertical line and horizontal line respectively, through the center of gravity of the bucket. This permits the bucket to tip forward slowly enough to allow the material to leave the bucket under the arch 44. When the forward pulling cable is slack and suspended by the hoist cable, the bucket axes will not tip beyond the vertical line of the hoist cables.

The major portion of the weight of the comparatively heavy front end of the bucket herein described, overhangs and bears upon the digging points 31 of the bucket, so when the drag cable pulls on the drag chains through the hitch plates 59, I secure a penetration not obtainable with other constructions now employed. This concentration of weight, coupled with the proper relation between the distance forward and above the digging edge points 31 and the hitch plates 59 with their associated pulling arms 63 produce a digging action that will penetrate relatively hard substances and the whole bucket remaining in a relatively horizontal plane to the surface to be removed, in fact this novel action actually permits this drag to dig and load down grade toward the excavating machine at distances beyond the boom point sheave, a result not before obtained.

To further reinforce the body part of the bucket a plurality of runner shoe bars 64, of relatively heavy material, are positioned on the under side of the bottom wall [3 and have their rear ends bent around the arcuate section l4 and extend upwardly at 65 into abutting engagement with the under adjacent face of the bar It. The bars 64 are arranged in transverse spaced relation and securely welded to the bottom wall, arcuate section, end wall and bar producing a rigid structure.

A second group of inner shoe bars 66, of slightly lesser thickness, are similarly arranged on the bottom wall I3, arcuate section I I, end wall l2 and bar i 6 but are disposed between adjacent,

bars 64 and securely welded in a like manner.

This combination of bars of unequal thickness produces a surface longitudinally across the bottom of the bucket that presents the maximum resistance to the impact encountered by the bottom of the bucket with the ground against caving up the bottom of the bucket, because there is rarely a direct impact with this uneven surface.

This improved construction provides a bucket of great width with respect to its low height to insure a very low center of gravity and in rough digging the bucket naturally with such a low center of gravity tends to roll less than the buckets now manufactured, which are made narrower and higher to obtain the same combined capacity. A wide bucket is a distinct advantage in rock excavations where the bucket has rough, uneven surface to travel and hence maximum influence to cause roll.

It is believed that in view of the detailed description heretofore set forth that its function of operation is apparent without further comment.

While I have described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that I am not to be limited there, inasmuch as changes and modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a drag bucket or the like for excavating purposes, having a main shell portion providing side, bottom and rear walls and open at the front, the combination of a reinforcement adjacent the front or digging end of the bucket, comprising a lip plate overlying the front and side walls of the shell and providing forwardly disposed hitch member-receivingportions at each side above the plane of the bottom wall; an arch member secured to the sides of said lip plate and extending transversely of and above the plane of the shell adjacent the forward end thereof, said arch member comprising upper and lower horizontally disposed arch plates spaced from one another, laterally spaced vertically positioned plates secured to said upper and lower plates, the lower arch plate extending both forwardly and rearwardly beyond the outer edges of the respective vertical plates and overlying and secured to the sides of said lip plate, the ends of the upper arch plate approaching the lower arch plate opposite the bucket sides, said lower arch plate having a forwardly extending hitch member-receiving projection aligned with the hitch memberreceiving projection of said lip plate and in contiguous engagement therewith, a filler plate at each side of the shell and secured to the outer surface of said lip plate in contiguous engagement with the lower ends of said upper arch plate and having its lower edge in plane with the corresponding edge of said lip plate, said filler plate having a forwardly and upwardly extending hitch-receiving projection in contiguous engagement with the hitch-receiving projection of said lip plate, and a hitch member having a vertically recessed rear end receiving and secured to said hitch plate projections of said filler plate, lip plate and lower arch plate.

LESHER W. VAN BUSKIRK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,868,246 Page July 19, 1932 1,989,334 Page Jan. 29, 1935 2,359,817 Ashley Oct. 10, 1944 2,398,360 Daniels et a1. Apr. 16, 1946 

